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College Essay Topic #1: 7 Essay Tips for Writing a College Application Essay About Your Grandmother

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One of the most popular topics for the college application essay is “My grandmother.”  If you are planning to write an essay about your grandmother, you have a challenge ahead of you.

How will you make your essay stand out amongst all the other grandmother essays?

How will you make the admissions committee remember your essay and not just yawn over it?

Here are some essential tips to write a college application essay about grandma:

1.       Focus on you, not on your grandmother.   When you wrote your first grade school essay about grandma, it was all about grandma.  Now it’s gotta be all about you. Write about your experience, your thoughts, and your opinions as they relate to your grandmother.

2.       If you find you have written more than one sentence in a row that is all about your grandmother instead of about you, add the word “I” or “me” to at least one of the sentences!

3.       Use very specific examples of conversations you had with your grandmother.  That way you can’t possibly write the same essay someone else has written.

4.       Know your starting point and ending point, and show growth.

Perhaps your grandma used to give you help and advice, and now that you are older you have become her advisor.  Perhaps you used to judge certain things as negative that you now see as positive.  Or maybe you didn’t understand something as a young child that you now understand.

Any growth or changes of perspective are great to write about.

5.       Keep it real.  Although a certain amount of description is necessary, if you get overly flowery with your language you’ll lose the reader’s attention.

6.       Consider writing about an object or activity that is related to your grandmother, but isn’t directly your grandmother.

For instance, let’s say your grandma was a gardener.  You could write about an aspect of gardening as your theme, so your grandmother would be part of the essay but not the sole focus.  Grandma may have taught you about gardening and you may have used some of those lessons in other parts of your life.  Your essay would then be about gardening as a metaphor.

7.       Want to write about grandpa instead?  He’s less popular but the same principles apply.

For examples of successful college essays, The Essay Expert recommends Accepted!  50 Successful College Admissions Essays by Gen and Kelly Tanabe.

Still not sure how to write a great college application essay about your grandma (or grandpa)?  Contact The Essay Expert for a FREE 15 minute consultation.

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Posted in Articles by Brenda Bernstein, College Admissions, College Admissions Essay, Writing Tips | 1 Comment »

Introducing The Essay Expert’s College Application Essay Series. College Essay Tips for Ivy League Bound Seniors

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For each of the next four weeks, I will be writing an article with tips for writing college application essays.  I will cover the popular essay themes of “my grandmother,” “my sport,” “a famous person” and “a fictional character.”

College Admissions Essay TipsThese topics are extremely popular, and if you choose one of them it is paramount that you don’t sound like everyone else!  If you’re applying to Ivy League schools in particular, your essay can make or break your application.  Bore the Yale admissions committee or the Harvard admissions committee and you’re done for.

In my upcoming articles, there will be 7 writing tips for each type of essay so that yours is unique and keeps the admission committee’s attention.

If you’re not a member of my blog already, sign up now to make sure you get every nugget of wisdom I have to offer!

And if there’s another topic you want me to cover, let me know and maybe your pick can be topic #5.

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Employers Favor State Schools for Hires – But Ivy League is Still the Best Pick

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Ivy League College As the owner of a company that coaches students on their college applications to Ivy League and other elite liberal arts schools, I was disconcerted to read a Wall Street Journal study finding that the largest public and private companies, nonprofits and government agencies favor graduates who did not attend Ivy League Colleges.  In fact, Cornell University is the only Ivy League school that ranked in the top 25.  The top picks?  Pennsylvania State University, Texas A&M University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Despite this apparent problem for my business, I thought it fair to share the article with my readers.  And thankfully, upon further thought, I realized that it is not a problem at all.  Here’s why:

If you think you will go on to obtain a graduate degree, this report does not apply.  It did not provide any information about how many Ivy League graduates go on to graduate school, or what the rates of employment are for Ivy League graduates with advanced degrees.  And we know from PayScale.com that “the typical Ivy League bachelor’s graduate earns about 27 percent more early in their career, and about 47 percent more by the time he or she is about 40, than the typical bachelor’s graduate from all  U.S. schools.”

How can we reconcile these apparently contradictory pieces of information?

What I make of all this is that if you don’t plan on going to graduate school, it might behoove you to attend a state school or other school on the Wall Street Journal’s list.  If law, medical, business or other graduate school is in your future, Ivy League is still the way to go.  And although I don’t have a report to back it up, I believe many Ivy-bound high school graduates have no intention of calling four years a complete education.

What do you think?  Will this information affect where you or your son or daughter applies to college?

For the full Wall Street Journal article go to Employers Favor State Schools for Hires.

Also see Penn State Tops Recruiter Rankings.

And if Ivy League or top liberal arts schools are still in your or your child’s future, call The Essay Expert at 608-467-0067 or visit our College Essay Services page.

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Posted in Articles by Brenda Bernstein, College Admissions, Grad School Admissons, Job Search | 3 Comments »

This Letter of Recommendation Got Me Into Yale!

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Below is a letter of recommendation for which I am extremely grateful.  Dr. Carol Nash was my history teacher for two years in high school (including AP History), and boy could she write a letter of recommendation!Letter of Recommendation for College Sample

What do you see works in this letter?  What would you improve?  Here it is:

Dear Admissions Committee:

When Brenda Bernstein tackles a question, the result is a definitive work!  Brenda was in my tenth grade Global Studies class and, on my recommendation, my eleventh year 1985-86 Advanced Placement American History-Economics class.  She ranks among my most outstanding students.  It may be premature to speak of a definitive work; nevertheless, I am certain that she will be working on the frontiers of knowledge.

The students in the global Studies class were expected to find four articles on the French Revolution in different types of sources.  Brenda’s impressive search bore all the marks of an outstanding scholar.  For example, she located a particularly unusual primary source.  The result was an outstanding paper which represented a truly significant contribution to my understanding of the women’s rights movement in the French Revolution.  Brenda also most effectively communicated the information to the class during the class discussions.  For her paper on the socio-economic basis of Hitler’s rise to power, Brenda drew her material from sophisticated journals.  In the AP class, Brenda did a really exhaustive paper on Quaker anti-slavery sentiment.  The paper was full of solid information and creative and intelligent comments.  For example, she suggested that the Quaker community served as a support network for individuals who deviated from the rest of the establishment.  Brenda wrote all her papers with style and imagination, and she demonstrated complete mastery of the basic research techniques.

Brenda’s insightful treatment of the material was evident on her tests.  For example, analyzing how the new American nation inherited England’s problems, she observed that the decentralization of the Articles of Confederation created many problems just as the want of decentralization had done for England before.  This link shows her ability to compare, contrast, and synthesize.  The rest of the essay demonstrated her mastery of the historical literature.  Just as she wrote integrated and creative papers, Brenda wrote an excellent document based essay drawing comfortably from the documents and her outside information.  Brenda’s analytic essays comparing historians like G. Wood and C. Kenyon were exactly on target.  When she was asked to find evidence to support historical interpretations, Brenda demonstrated her superior capacity to interpret data.

Brenda is a petite young lady with an enormous mind and unusual intellectual maturity.  This is matched by her rich personality.

Carol S. Nash, Ph. D.

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Posted in Articles by Brenda Bernstein, College Admissions, Letters of Recommendation | 4 Comments »

How to Get the Best Letters of Recommendation Ever! by Brenda Bernstein

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Best Letter of Recommendation

Letters of Recommendation (LORs) are ranked as the 5th most important part of your college application. Most LORs make no difference because they sound like everyone else’s. They don’t hurt, but they don’t help. To make sure you get LORs that actually help you get into a top college, follow these guidelines:

 

1.   Meet with your recommender either in person or by phone. Remind the person of who you are and where you are heading. Talk about stories/examples the recommender can put in the letter.

2.   Give the recommender a package of information that includes: examples of your academic work; your high school transcript; your resume; your personal essay (or a summary if you haven’t written it yet); specific examples of your accomplishments that the recommender can write about

The following is an outline of a great letter of recommendation:

I. Introductory paragraph

a.     Who the recommender is and how that person knows the applicant.

b.     Statement that the applicant is in the top 5 or 10 numerically or the top 5% or 10% of comparable students, in a particular class, work load handled, etc. Something quantifying the student’s position in comparison to other students.

c.     A summary sentence of how it is this applicant stands out to you.

II. 2-6 paragraphs telling stories about the applicant. Provide detailed examples of how this person stands out among the rest.

III. If not already covered, make sure to insert examples of attributes that admissions committees care about. For example:

a.     Intellectual ability

b.     Intellectual curiosity

c.     Writing & research skills

d.     Analytical skills

e.     Positive character traits/Integrity

f.      Special skills

g.     Leadership

h.     Extracurricular involvement

IV. Conclusion:  Mention anything the recommender knows about the student’s goals and his/her capacity to reach them.

Make sure to request your LORs asap if you haven’t already! The last thing you want is to have an incomplete application at deadline because you’re still waiting on a recommendation.

Feel free to show this article to your recommenders for extra insurance that you get the BEST letters of recommendation ever!

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A Tool for Choosing a College Major — or a Career

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About.com has a great quiz that will help you focus on the right college major for you.  It’s useful for choosing a career as well!  I’m a big fan of on line quizzes and this one pegged me exactly.  Give it a try and see if the results ring true for you!  College Major Personality Quiz

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What Does the End of Summer Mean to You?

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I’m taking a non-traditional approach to my blog this week because I’m feeling reflective.  Tomorrow I head out of town for a final vacation on the East Coast (New Hampshire).  I’m going to Dance New England’s summer dance camp, a place I have spent from four to eleven days every year (except one) for the past twelve years.Butterfly

It has become automatic for me that the end of summer means I’m heading to dance camp.  In fact, I almost didn’t go to camp this year because I had so much work to do, engagements on my calendar, etc.  But this ritual of camp is so ingrained that a week ago I cancelled all my appointments and bought a plane ticket.  The end of summer just isn’t the same without dance camp.

The end of summer also means fall colors coming, and crispness in the air.  Apples flooding the farmers market where berries used to be.  Thoughts of snow shovels encroaching.

Most important, however (yes even more important than dance camp), the end of summer means admissions season is approaching, and life is about to get even busier for The Essay Expert.  For the past nine months I have been a resume writer and business owner, as well as a career advisor at the University of Wisconsin Law School.  In a few short weeks, “College Admissions Essay Advisor” will move to the top of the list along with “Law School Admissions Consultant” for Kaplan.

I look forward to this upcoming time of year.  College and law school applicants all have unique stories to tell, and I love learning and exploring them.  I love working with students, helping them gain insights into their lives that they might not have had otherwise.  I love watching people’s stories reveal themselves onto the page in a way that captures the interest of admissions officers because no one else could have told those stories in that particular way.

And of course I love helping clients get into the colleges and law schools of their choice.

I associate apples and fall crispness, even Thanksgiving, with the process of shepherding students into their next phase of life.  It’s a rewarding venture and the results will flower with the spring.  In the meantime, I’m heading to dance camp.  I’ll have more bloggery for you when I get back.

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I’m curious…  what does the approach of the end of summer mean to you?  Are you a job seeker getting ready to buckle down in your search?  Are you the parent of a high school senior getting ready to increase your encouragement for your child to write an essay draft?  Are you a teacher writing letters of recommendation?  Please share in the comments below.

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Posted in Articles by Brenda Bernstein, College Admissions | 7 Comments »

Top 10 Ways to Get Into a Top College – Things Colleges Watch Out For

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The 2010 survey of independent college consultants was released in June 2010 and highlights the “Top Ten Strengths and Experiences Colleges Look for in High School Students.”  The list changes every time it’s compiled, an event that occurs every few years.  Your grades, test scores, and the rigor of your high school curriculum still top the list.  But there are some changes from prior years.getting_into_college stret sign

Guess what?  The importance of the application essay has moved up in the list  – from #7 to #6 — since the last survey!  Part of the reason for this is that many colleges have begun to make the SAT and ACT optional with “test optional” policies.  The admissions essay continues to be more important to private liberal arts colleges than it is at large state universities, so if you are targeting Ivy League and other top private schools, put some focused attention on the essay part of your application.

It’s hard to write a good essay without good material.  Not surprisingly, factors #4 and #7-10 are all essay-related as well.  “Passionate involvement in a few activities, demonstrating leadership and initiative,” which ranks #4, gives you great essay material.  “Special talents or experiences” comes in at #7 and is also fodder for an outstanding essay, as is “demonstrated leadership in activities” (#8), a factor that showed up for the first time on the list this year.

It is crystal clear from this list that schools are not looking for well-rounded students – they are looking for leaders.  It is much more important to get deeply involved in a few activities than to do a little of everything.  And you’ll have a lot more to write about in your college application essay if you take on leadership positions that require you to manage people, organize big projects and events, and grow as a person.

Note that succeeding in these areas requires some planning ahead.  If you are not a harp player already by the time you are entering your senior year of high school, it is unlikely that you will become one.  If you haven’t been deeply involved in a student organization, it might be difficult to take on leadership suddenly.  It’s more important than ever to find your passion early and follow it.

Finally, “demonstrated enthusiasm to attend” ranked #10 in the survey.  Take this factor under advisement as you write your college essay.  You would do well to write something about why you want to attend a particular school, especially if it’s your first or second choice.  Just make sure to send the correct essay to each school, mentioning the school you’re applying to and not another school!  Mixing this one up is a great way to get yourself into the “no” pile (and it happens all the time).

Thankfully, you have a lot of guidance about how to get into the “yes” pile.  Determine where you will most stand out as an interesting candidate with leadership abilities, and write a great essay about it.

For help on your college essay from The Essay Expert, contact us at info@TheEssayExpert.com or by phone at 608-467-0067 OR 717-390-6696.Enhanced by Zemanta

 

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Mid-Summer Tips for Rising College Seniors… What are You Doing to Prepare for College Applications?

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Are you are heading toward your senior year of high school?  If so, do you want to be totally stressed out as admissions deadlines approach, or would you rather get some work done ahead of time to make things easier three months from now?

Your senior year will be busy.  You will probably be visiting college campuses, formulating your list of schools and taking the SAT subject tests, in addition to balancing your regular plate of schoolwork and activities.  So it’s important to do anything you can do for your college applications now.Stressed out teen

If you want to avoid last minute panic, follow these suggestions and get a jump start on your college applications:

1.    If you are having essay-worthy experiences this summer, don’t trust that your memory will recall all the details of those experiences. Write them down!! Trust me, it will make the essay writing process SO much easier than it would be with just your memory to rely on.

2.    If you’re not engaged in some interesting activities and adventures this summer, do some self reflection and find something to jump into.  It doesn’t have to be glamorous – you could get a job in a bakery or video store and make an essay out of it.  A great essay is more about who you are and how you experience your life than about the actual things you do.

3.    If you haven’t already, ask your teachers NOW for letters of recommendation.  They will appreciate having the extra time to think and write.  See my article High School Seniors: Start Now on Your Letters of Recommendation (LORs)!

4.    Write an essay draft.  It doesn’t have to be perfect.  Just get something down on paper.  It will get your ideas flowing and take off some of the pressure you might otherwise experience in the fall.

5.    Talk to your parents and friends about your ideas.  And if you do write an essay draft, share it with others.  They might have insights into your experiences and growth that you don’t have.  After all, you only have one brain and it can only recognize so much about itself!

6.    On August 1, download the Common Application Form and fill out all the generic information you can (name, address, etc.). Get those details out of the way so they don’t clutter your brain and you can focus on writing your essays.

Follow these six suggestions and you will have much more peace and brain space so you can focus on your other senior year activities — and you’ll have more FUN too!!

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Mommy, Daddy, Tell Me a Story! – Spinning a Good Yarn with Your College Application, Resume, Cover Letter and Professional Bio

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When we were kids, we all loved stories.  Well guess what?  That hasn’t changed!  I recently read the article Storytelling an Effective Training Method! and it sparked me to write this post.

storybookThe fact is, we all love a good story.  Admissions committees love good stories.  Hiring managers love good stories.  Customers and clients love good stories.  Always remember:  the person you’re writing for is a human being!  How do you get another human being to read your document?  Spin a good yarn!

If you’re applying to college, tell a story with a beginning, middle and end.  I had a client who wrote his college application essay about teaching his sister to ride a bike.  His first draft was all rosy about how great the experience was, and it did not have a compelling beginning, middle and end.  He felt lost in the writing, and the essay was boring.

What ultimately made the story great was that he started at the beginning, when he was annoyed at his sister for being small and clumsy, then moved through the process of a breakthrough in becoming a teacher, and a better teacher — and finally to where he released the seat and the sister took off on her own on the bike.  Victory!  A great story.

In college applications, many times what makes a great story is to admit to a struggle or fault, and show how you broke through it.  In a cover letter, believe it or not, you can do the same thing.

All kinds of people are saying “No one reads cover letters anymore.”  Well, of course no one is reading them – because they are stilted and boring and no one can get through them!  Have you ever considered that if you write a good enough story in your cover letter that it really will get read!

Do you have an example of a time when a project was failing, and you stepped in to fix it?  That makes a great story!  Is there an example of something you achieved that relates to the job you’re applying for?  Don’t be afraid to tell these stories in your cover letters!

On your resume, too, tell as much of a story as you can in a bulleted line.

What not to write:  “Assisted scientists with their research.”

What to write: “Conducted genetic, epidemiology, and behavior research on sport fish in Illinois, Canada, and the Bahamas.”

Ah, now that sounds kind of interesting!

For an example of a professional bio that tells a great story or two, see Senior Investment Analyst Bio on The Essay Expert’s website.  This client reported to me that she loved her bio story so much that she kept reading it to herself after it was done!

Whatever the reason, we all love a good story.  Tell one in your college and job applications.  Tell one in your professional bio.  If you do it well, your intended audience will keep reading…  and reading…  and reading.

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Posted in Articles by Brenda Bernstein, Bio Writing, Blogging, College Admissions, Cover Letter Tips, Job Search, Professional Writing, Resume Tips, Writing Tips | No Comments »

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